Adjustable shutter in hermetically sealed casing



Feb. 27, 1962 R. J. CUMMINGS ADJUSTABLE SHUTTER IN HERMETICALLY SEALED CASING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 4, 1960 val INVENTOR.

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Feb. 27, 1962 R. J. CUMMINGS 3,022,549

ADJUSTABLE SHUTTER IN HERMETICALLY SEALED CASING asses-la Patented Feb. 2'7, 1352 3,622,549 ADJUSTABLE SHUTTER IN HERMETICALLY SEALED CASlNG Ralph E. Cummings, Rte. 1, Downers Grove, Ill. Filed Oct. 4, 1964), Ser. No. 69,467 13 Claims. (Cl. 20-565) This invention relates to an adjustable shutter construction in which the shutter slats are enclosed in a hermetically scaled casing similar to a Thermcpaue window, the slats being adjusted by a magnet which is movably mounted on the outside of the casing.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an adjustable shutter which has the shutter slats in a hermetically sealed casing so that they collect no dust and require no maintenance of .any sort. I

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable shutter which may be shifted by a person inside a room by the use of a magnet, but which may not be shifted from the outside by magnetic means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable shutter which has its slats pivotally supported in a frame, with a pane of glass hermetically sealed to one surface of the frame and the other surface adapted to be hermetically sealed to a second pane of glass, so that the unit of frame, slats, and first pane may be mounted directly upon an existing window.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a movable shutter constructed in accordance with the present invention, and mounted in a window frame;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View on an enlarged scale to illustrate details of the slat mounting and support structures;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale, taken substantially as illustrated along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, showing the shutter in its open position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the shutter in its closed position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section on an enlmged scale, showing the supported corner of a shutter slat;

FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 5, showing the slat moved endwise ed the support and still held horizontal by magnetic attraction;

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary section to show the mounting of the slats on the wires; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary section similar to FlG. 3, illustrating an alternative form of the device sealed to an existing window.

It is almost essential that the slats of a blind be capable of closing completely against one another; and to pern't this each slat (see FIG. 7) has an upwardly concave groove 17a extending from its front margin (the margin to the left in FIGS. 3 and 4) to the recess 18, and a downwardly concave groove 17b extending from the recess 18 to the rear margin of the slat. The grooves combine with recesses 18 to prevent interference between the slats and wires from holding the slats partially open.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail and referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, the adjustable shutter of the present invention includes an imperforate rectangular frame, indicated generally at 10, which has a top side 11', a bottom side 12, and upright sides 13 md 14, the frame being illustrated in FIG. 1 mounted in a window frame, indicated generally at F, in a wall W. Suspended from the top side 11 of frame 16 is a plurality of filaments, 01 wires 15 which have enlargements, or fixed beads 16 at regular intervals to furnish support for slats 17 having upstanding hemispherical recesses 18 to provide sockets for heads 16, and holes 18:: in the form of narrow slots bisecting the sockets permit the slats to pivot freely on the filaments.

The slats 17 are made of diamagnetic material, and each slat has a slug of ferromagnetic material 19 immediately adjacent one edge, with the slugs on the sev-' eral slats all in vertical alignment. The slats are so balanced, principally due to the weight of the slugs 19, that they are normally retained in the inclined, overlapping position shown in FIG. 4.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 to 6, a plurality of slat supports 20 is mounted on the upright side 13 of frame 10 immediately adjacent the front of the frame as seen in FIG. 1, there being a separate support for each of the slats 17. Each slat support 2 has a horizontal supportingface 21 and an inclined guide face 22 which extends downwardly from the supporting face 21 at an acute angle with respect to said face. As best seen in PEG. 2, the slat supports 20 are preferably formed from a single strip of material 23 sotha't thespace between the supports is fixed in the forming die, and an entire set of slat supports may be mounted on the upright side 13 of the frame as a unit.

A first pane of glass 24 is hermetically sealed to all four sides of frame 10 at the face adjacent the supports 28 and ferromagnetic slugs 19; and as best seen in FIG. 3 there is a minimum of clearance between the pane and the edges of the slats 17 when the slats are in the position illustrated in FIG. 3.

A second pane of glass 25 is hermetically sealed to all four sides of the frame 10 opposite the first pane is, so that the entire slat assembly is enclosed within a scfled chamber which is airtight and dustproof.

Extending from top to bottom of frame it slightly to one side of the normal position of ferromagnetic slugs 19 (compare FIGS. 5 and 6), is a trackway 2-6 which may be formed as a plastic extrusion or fabricatedfrom diamagnetic metal. Slidably carried in the trackway is a permanent magnet 27 having a finger piece 28 by means of which it may be moved up or down the trackway to shift the positions of the slats by magnetic attraction of the slugs 19. a e

The operation of the adjustable shutter is believed to be clear from the foregoing description. ii hen the shutter is closed its slats 17 occupy the inclined positions illustrated in FIG. 4, and the vertical suspension of wires 15 acts as resilient means urging the slats endwise to position a corner of each slat in line with the supports 29. In this position, of course, the corners of the slats are fairly close to the vertical median plane of the f ame iii, and the lower marginal portion of each slat overlaps the slat below it.

To open the shutter it is merely necessary to slide magnet 27 upwardly along trackway 26. The magnetic attraction upon the ferromagnetic slug 19' of each slat pivots the slat to a horizontal plane parallel to the top side of frame 10, and the magnetic force is sufiicient to cause the corner portion of each slat to slide along guide face 22 of the associated slat support, thus moving the slat endwise by displacing wires 15. To permit this movement, the ends of slats 17 remote from slugs 19 are normally spaced slightly from the upright side 14 of casing to, as seen in FIG. 2. As the magnet moves upwardly away from any particular slat 17, the slug 19 on that slat is freed from the magnetic field and the weight of the slat on the wire 15 straightens the wire to slide the corner of the slat onto supporting face 21 of the support, as seen in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. Even if the magnetic attraction causes the slats to be elevated past the horizontal it is of no consequence, since the unbalanced weighting of the slats causes each slat to drop onto its support as soon as its ferromagnetic slug is freed from the magnetic field.

Consideration of the relationship of the slats to one another in the closed position shown in FIG. 4 makes it apparent that the shutter can not be opened by employing a magnet adjacent the outer pane of glass 25. Placing a magnet against the pane of glass 25 merely serves to draw theferromagnetic slugs 19 toward, that side of the casing, and thus can have no tendency to open the shutter by moving the slats toward their horizontal positions. Accordingly, the present blind may be opened only from inside a room in which the blind is'installed.

To close the blind, magnet 27 is moved down trackway 26, and as it passes the slugs 19, from each of which the magnet is offset lengthwise of the slats, the magnetic attraction slides the slat 17 endwise off the supporting surface 21 to the position illustrated in FIG. 6. As the magnet is moved down each slat drops by gravity to its closed position.

The form of the device illustrated in FIG. Sis identical withthat in FIGS. 1 .to 4, except that the second pane of glass 25 is omitted from the frame and the frame is provided with a continuous strip of elastomer 125 which may be hermetically sealed against a pane of glass G in a pre-existing window installation, so that the device of FIG. 5 maybe applied to previously installed windows instead of having to completely replace an existing window.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art. a

I claim:

1. An adjustable shutter comprising: an imperforate rectangular frame; a plurality. of shutter slats of diamagnetic material pivotally supported in said frame for parallel movement between horizontal planes and inclined planes, said slats overlapping when in said inclined planes; a slug of ferromagnetic material secured to each slat immediately adjacent an edge of the slat, said slugs being vertically aligned with one another; a first pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of said frame, there being minimum clearance between said pane and the edges of the slats carrying the ferromagnetic slugs when the slats are horizontal; and means for hermetically sealing a second pane of glass to all four sides of the frame opnet slidably' supported in said slideway to place'said slugs successively in the field of said magnet. V

3. An adjustable shutter comprising: an imperforate rectangular frame; a plurality of shutter slats of diamag- .netic material pivotally supported in said frame on horizontal axes for parallel movement between horizontal planes and inclined planes, said slats overlapping when in said inclinedplanes; a slug of ferromagnetic material secured to each slat immediately adjacent an edge of the slat, said slugs being vertically aligned with one another;

a plurality of slat supports mounted on an upright side 7 of the frame for supporting a corner of each slat when the slats are in their positions parallel to the frame, each said support having a horizontal supporting face and a downwardly extending inclined guide face at an acute angle to the supporting face; means resiliently urging the slats endwise to position their corners in line with the supports, whereby the guide faces cam the slats endwise against the urging of the resilient means as the slats move from inclined to horizontal position, and magnetic force applied to the ferromagnetic slugs may move the slats endwise oif of the supporting'faces against the urging of the resilient means to free theslats for return to inclined position; a first pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of said frame, there being minimumplearance'between said pane and the edges of the slats carrying the V ferromagnetic slugs when the slats are horizontal; and

means for hermetically sealing a second pane of glass to all four sides of the frame opposite said first pane so as to enclose said slats in an air-tight and dustproof chamber, said slats being pivotable by moving a magnet along said first pane adjacent said ferromagnetic slugs.

4. The device of claim 3 in which theslats are provided with aligned holes, a plurality of parallel filaments having evenly spaced fixed beads are suspended from the top of the frame, each filament extending through aligned holes in the slats so each slat is pivotally supported on coplanar beads on the filaments and the weight of the slats on the filaments provides the resilient means urging the slats endwise.

5. The device of claim 3 in which the slats are balanced to normally occupy the inclined positions,

6. An adjustable shutter comprising: .an imperforate rectangular frame; a plurality of shutter slats of diamagnetic material pivotally supported-in said frame for parallel movement between horizontal planes and'inclined planes, said slats overlapping when in said inclined planes; a slug of ferromagnetic material secured to each slat immediately adjacent an edge of the slat, said slugs being vertically aligned with one another; a first pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of said frame, there .being minimum clearance between said pane and the edges of the slats carrying the'ferromagnctic slugs when the slats are parallel to a side of the frame; and a second pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of the frame opposite said first pane so as to enclose said slats in an airtight and dustproof chamber, said slats being pivotable by moving a magnet along said first pane adjacent said ferromagnetic slugs.

7. The device of claim 6 which includes a vertical slideway adjacent the outer face'of the first pane of glass near the ferromagnetic slugs, and a permanent magnet slidably supported in said slideway to place said slugs successively in'the field of said magnet.

8. An adjustable shutter comprising: an irnperforate rectangular frame; a plurality of shutter slats of diamagnetic material pivotally supported in said frame on horizontal axes for parallel movement between horizontal planes and inclined plane's, said slats overlapping when in said inclined planes; a slug of ferromagnetic material secured to each slat immediately adjacent an edge of the slat, said slugs being vertically aligned with one another; a plurality of slat supports mounted on an upright side of the frame for supporting a corner of each slat when the slats are in their positions parallel to the frame, each said support having a horizontal supporting face and a downwardly extending inclined, guide face at an acute angle to the supporting face; means resiliently urging the slats endwise to position their corners in line with the supports, whereby the guide faces cam the slats endwise against the urging of the resilient means as the slats move from inclined to horizontal position, and magnetic force applied to the ferromagnetic slugs may move the slats endwise off of the supporting faces against the urging of the resilient means to free the slats for return to inclined position; a first pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of said frame, .therebeing minimum clearance between said pane andrthe edges of the slats carrying the ferromagnetic slugs when the slats are horizontal; and a second pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of the frame opposite said first pane so as to enclose said slats in an airtight and dustproof chamher, said slats being pivotable by movinga magnet along said first pane adjacent said'ferromagnetic slugs.

9. The device of claim 8 in which the slats are provided with aligned holes, a plurality of parallel filaments having evenly spaced fixed beads are suspended from the top of the frame, each filament extending through aligned holes in the slats so each slat is pivotally supported on coplanar beads on the filaments and the weight of the slats on the filaments provides the resilient means urging the slats endwise.

10. An adjustable shutter comprising: an imperforate rectangular frame; a plurality of vertical filaments sus-.;

pended from the top side of said frame; a plurality of evenly spaced beads fixed to each of said filaments; a plurality of shutter slats of diamagnetic material having small holes traversed by said filaments, each slat resting upon coplanar beads on the filaments for parallel pivotal movement between horizontal planes and inclined planes, said slats overlapping when in said inclined planes; a slug of ferromagnetic material secured to each slat immediately adjacent an edge of the slat, said slugs being vertically aligned with one another; a first pane of glass hermetically sealed to all four sides of said frame, there being minimum clearance between said pane and the edges of the slats carrying the ferromagnetic slugs when the slats are horizontal; and means for hermetically sealing a second pane of glass to all four sides of the frame opposite said first pane so as to enclose said slats in an airtight and dustproor chamber, said slats being pivotable by moving a magnet along said first pane adjacent said ferromagnetic slugs.

'11. The device or" claim it) in which each slat has a plurality of upstanding hemispherical recesses providing sockets for the beads, and the small holes are in the form of narrow slots bisecting said recesses.

12. The device of claim 11 in which each slat has an upwardly concave groove extending from each recess to the edge of the slat near the first pane of glass, and a downwardly concave groove extending from each recess to the opposite edge of the slat.

13. The device of claim 10 in which each slat has an upwardly concave groove extending from each small hole to the edge of the slat near the first pane of glass, and a downwardly concave groove extending from each small hole to the opposite edge of the slat.

References fitted in the file of this patent- UNiTED STATES PATENTS Girnon Mar. 7, 1944 2,733,486 Peeples Feb. 7, 1956 

